2013 Police Interceptor SHO upgrades

[onanysunday]

Hello,

I recently purchased a 2013 Police Interceptor sedan with the 3.5L EcoBoost and have been slowly trying to find ways of upgrading it. No tune (yet). I am trying to see how far I can go with a relatively stock setup with stock turbos and without a tune. I want more performance than stock, but not at the expense of longevity with 145k on the odometer. I purchased it with some type of upgraded exhaust system with glass pack mufflers that had already been installed. So far, Pulstar plasma spark plugs, Sultans of Spark igntion coils, K&N RX-2820 intake with the ADDW1 carbon fiber intake heat shield (from a Kia Stinger), DEI reflect-a-gold tape wrapped intake tubes. Also, I purchased some fiberglass exhaust header wrap but that appears difficult or not super easy to do with only a floor jack at my disposal. Ditched the Goodyear Eagles in favor of the Continental Extreme Contact. Liquid Moly engine flush. Purchased an illuminated, reticulating borescope that fits into the temp sensor hole on top of the intake manifold. This allowed me to see the amount of carbon build-up on the back of the intake valves. Not clean, but not terribly bad- mild enough to safely use and see an improvement in performance using the CRC Intake Valve and Turbo Cleaner spray without sending large chunks of carbon into the combustion chambers. Another thing I was considering is going with the 170 degree thermostat to help it run a little cooler as I noticed the engine seems to put out much more power when cold. But then I heard the cooling fans would have to be re-programmed somehow? I'm enjoying the progressive improvements in performance I've seen since buying the car and look forward to optimizing engine performance even further while maintaining general durability and overall longevity.

 

[onanysunday]

recent additions :

 

[dxlnt1]

Dont fear putting the “right” tune on your car. It will be the absolute best bang for the buck for your car. And the tune does indeed reprogram the cooling fans

 

[onanysunday]

That is still an option. I think I will not try and put the exhaust wrap on after hearing that it will eventually destroy the headers as I live in a relatively wet climate that will hold the moisture close to the pipes all the time. I would really like to keep the Sultans of Spark coils and Pulstar plugs with a tune as I really like those additions over stock performance. I've experienced a noticeable boost in the 'seat of the pants' feel with them (especially at the low to midrange) but I am guessing going with a tune typically requires you use the plugs and coils the tuner recommends, or ones they are familar with? Aside from going with a tune, I wish more people would try these two upgrades and see what they think. I was pleasantly surprised by what they offered.

 

[dxlnt1]

Unless you dyno the car its hard to tell if those upgrades factually made a difference. Whenever we spend money on an upgrade we are hopeful it works and can be biased towards its success. Whereas with the tune, the seat of the pants, dyno and the track will prove itself.

On other forums changing the coils was of little to no gain if I remember right. And spark plugs was about the same responses. But if they offer any improvement then the tune would really wake it up

 

[Majestic]

That is still an option. I think I will not try and put the exhaust wrap on after hearing that it will eventually destroy the headers as I live in a relatively wet climate that will hold the moisture close to the pipes all the time. I would really like to keep the Sultans of Spark coils and Pulstar plugs with a tune as I really like those additions over stock performance. I've experienced a noticeable boost in the 'seat of the pants' feel with them (especially at the low to midrange) but I am guessing going with a tune typically requires you use the plugs and coils the tuner recommends, or ones they are familar with? Aside from going with a tune, I wish more people would try these two upgrades and see what they think. I was pleasantly surprised by what they offered.

Motorcraft coils and plugs are better than whatever you put in there.

 

[onanysunday]

K&N RX-2820 X-Stream, ADD W1 2018 Kia Stinger Carbon Fiber heat shield, DEI Reflect-A-Gold wrapped intake (in progress).

 

[onanysunday]

The combined difference of the Pulstar iridium plasma plugs which use an internal capacitor for much more voltage and a bigger spark with more complete combustion) than other plug types with the Sultans of Spark coils (more available spark especially where the engine likes to make its torque at the lower rpms) combines to give a larger dose of more seat-of-the pants power at normal, city driving speeds.

The difference in performance was not subtle over the original Motorcraft parts they replaced with regards to the low end and midrange pick-up specifically. It really is a winning combo with just those two swaps (among other things). It 's now much easier to chirp the tires with traction control on. Granted, with 145k the OEM Motorcraft coils and plugs were getting long in the tooth (probably less on the Motorcraft iridiums which still looked relatively fresh). So the argument can be made I'm just feeling the difference of going to new parts (any new parts?) compared to before.

Interestingly though, everyone said not to replace the original coils mostly because of their excellent durability which I cannot disagree with as they seem to fail the least often judging by the hundreds of posts I've read about this.

I was experiencing no issues other than the car feeling sluggish and slower at lower rpms than it seemed like it should be for a car with as much claimed hp as this should have had stock. I was not experiencing misfires or anything else specifically that indicated the coils may be on their way out.

Anyway, I'm glad I removed the original Motorcraft coils and still have them as back-up and will keep them close by. I was going to try MSD coils, as I believe they will probably help make more power at the higher rpm range than my SOS and Motorcraft coils do, but there appears to be so many failing coil complaints from almost all the major aftermarket performance brands except for OEM Motorcraft and possibly D.U.I. SOS coils among some others (although that could be they're just not as popular and not as many people seem to be familiar with them to give more useful feedback to others) but these coils were made specifically for the 3.5 EcoBoost engine only and it shows with the change in engine characteristics and temperament afterwards. As to longevity, we'll see as Motorcraft sets the bar high.

One thing I noticed when I purchased the vehicle last month is that it is now driving almost completely differently than it is today. It was somewhat ponderous and slower to accelerate than I expected it would be (on a green light for instance) when I first picked it up. It rode rougher without the Lucas UCL and acetone added to every tank of street gas like I'm used to.

When I floored it, it would accelerate slower than when I 'almost floored it'. It was hard to remind myself not to floor it when I wanted more power, but to easy off the accelerator to get more power. However, now when I floor it, it's noticeably faster than 'almost flooring it'. It seems to want to cruise all day at 90 without slowing down or stopping which makes it an enjoyably solid, all-day highway cruiser. Mine is a daily commuter and as such, I don't take it to the track and dyno it for instance. How it drives and feels to me on a daily basis is what matters most. I may get a tune eventually, but first I wanted to focus on cleaning as much carbon from the engine and intake manifold as possible, having clean fluids all around, better tires/ traction, better braking as my rotors feel warped, and passive cooling enhancements before I take things further because I think these offer a solid baseline to start from on which to build.

 

[Highway Star]

Hello,

I recently purchased a 2013 Police Interceptor sedan with the 3.5L EcoBoost and have been slowly trying to find ways of upgrading it. No tune (yet). I am trying to see how far I can go with a relatively stock setup with stock turbos and without a tune. I want more performance than stock, but not at the expense of longevity with 145k on the odometer. I purchased it with some type of upgraded exhaust system with glass pack mufflers that had already been installed. So far, Pulstar plasma spark plugs, Sultans of Spark igntion coils, K&N RX-2820 intake with the ADDW1 carbon fiber intake heat shield (from a Kia Stinger), DEI reflect-a-gold tape wrapped intake tubes. Also, I purchased some fiberglass exhaust header wrap but that appears difficult or not super easy to do with only a floor jack at my disposal. Ditched the Goodyear Eagles in favor of the Continental Extreme Contact. Liquid Moly engine flush. Purchased an illuminated, reticulating borescope that fits into the temp sensor hole on top of the intake manifold. This allowed me to see the amount of carbon build-up on the back of the intake valves. Not clean, but not terribly bad- mild enough to safely use and see an improvement in performance using the CRC Intake Valve and Turbo Cleaner spray without sending large chunks of carbon into the combustion chambers. Another thing I was considering is going with the 170 degree thermostat to help it run a little cooler as I noticed the engine seems to put out much more power when cold. But then I heard the cooling fans would have to be re-programmed somehow? I'm enjoying the progressive improvements in performance I've seen since buying the car and look forward to optimizing engine performance even further while maintaining general durability and overall longevity.

Police package comes with a 180 degree thermo stock. You’ll notice a white sticker on the inside of the hood that says the vehicle is non 50 states emission compliant.